Scalable Nanomanufacturing of Uniform Inorganic Nanoparticles Using Jet-Mixing Reactors

纳米粒子具有独特的光学、磁性、电子和催化特性，可以在计算、能量存储、化学制造和医疗保健方面取得进步。然而，为了实现这些进步，纳米颗粒合成必须从小型实验室规模的批量工艺转变为商业规模的制造工艺。聚合物纳米颗粒的连续制造已经取得了一些进展；然而，无机纳米颗粒（即金属，半导体，陶瓷）更难制造，因为它们通常需要高温和惰性环境。该奖项开发了一种高温和/或无空气可扩展的无机纳米颗粒纳米制造工艺，使用催化剂和半导体量子点作为模型系统。这些材料具有很高的商业潜力（每年市值超过10亿美元），并应用于从医疗保健到电子产品的各个行业。这些材料对国家安全和全球领导地位具有重要意义，因为它们被用于对美国竞争力至关重要的新型计算，比如自旋电子学和量子计算。这项工作还为可扩展纳米制造领域的新兴职业培养了多样化的劳动力，并得到了参与规模化流程的公司的投入。本研究解决了制造无机纳米颗粒的可扩展工艺的关键需求。目前，这些材料中的许多都是在批量生产过程中制造的，这限制了纳米颗粒的均匀性，从而控制了它们的尺寸依赖性质。在通过纳米沉淀途径在射流混合反应器中成功合成聚合物纳米颗粒的基础上，本研究开发了在无空气和/或高温射流混合反应器中制造无机（金属、半导体）纳米颗粒的技术，并为其扩大规模提供了相应的缩放规律。作为模型系统，该项目研究了CdS， MnS和PbS量子点和Cu合金催化剂，它们是氧敏感的，需要高温才能合成，或者根据温度表现出不同的形态。同时，该项目开发了一系列集成喷气混合反应器的方法，以制造由不同材料组成的核-壳纳米颗粒。这种混合材料提供了多功能或可调特性的潜力。目前，混合纳米颗粒是在难以规模化的批量系统中制造的。这项工作还研究了利用流体流动（而不是外部加热和冷却）来实现高温制造过程快速控制的热控制方法。这是通过反应器设计、纳米颗粒合成、COMSOL建模、成核和生长理论等专家团队的跨学科互动来完成的。该项目促进了对连续可扩展纳米制造技术的理解和控制。该奖项反映了美国国家科学基金会的法定使命，并通过使用基金会的知识价值和更广泛的影响审查标准进行评估，被认为值得支持。

Nanoparticles have unique optical, magnetic, electronic, and catalytic properties that could lead to advances in computing, energy storage, chemical manufacturing, and healthcare. However, for those advances to be realized, nanoparticle syntheses must be translated from small laboratory-scale batch processes to commercial scale manufacturing processes. There have been several advances in continuous manufacturing of polymer nanoparticles; however, inorganic nanoparticles (i.e., metals, semiconductors, ceramics) are more difficult to manufacture because they often require high temperatures and inert environments. This award develops a high temperature and/or air-free scalable nanomanufacturing process for inorganic nanoparticles using catalyst and semiconductor quantum dots as model systems. These materials have high commercial potential (market capitalization of more than $1 billion per year) and are applied across industry sectors from healthcare to electronics. These materials have import for national security and global leadership because they are used in new kinds of computing important for American competitiveness, such as spintronics and quantum computing. This work also trains a diverse workforce for emerging careers in scalable nanomanufacturing with input from companies engaging in scale up processes. This research addresses a critical need for scalable processes for manufacturing inorganic nanoparticles. Currently, many of these materials are manufactured in batch processes that limit nanoparticle uniformity, and thus control of their size-dependent properties. Building upon successful polymer nanoparticle synthesis in jet mixing reactors via a nanoprecipitation route, this research develops inorganic (metal, semiconductor) nanoparticle manufacturing in air-free and/or high temperature jet-mixing reactors and provides accompanying scaling laws for their scale-up. As model systems the project studies CdS, MnS, and PbS quantum dots and Cu alloy catalysts, which are oxygen sensitive, require high temperatures for synthesis, or exhibit different morphologies depending on temperature. Concurrently, the project develops methods to integrate jet-mixing reactors in series to enable manufacture of core-shell nanoparticles composed of different materials. Such hybrid materials offer potential for multifunctionality or tunable properties. Currently, hybrid nanoparticles are manufactured in batch systems that are difficult to scale. This work also investigates methods of thermal control using fluid flow (as opposed to external heating and cooling) to enable rapid control in high temperature manufacturing processes. This is accomplished by interdisciplinary interactions within the team of experts in reactor design, nanoparticle synthesis, COMSOL modeling, and nucleation and growth theory. The project advances knowledge in the understanding and control of continuous scalable nanomanufacturing technologies.This award reflects NSF's statutory mission and has been deemed worthy of support through evaluation using the Foundation's intellectual merit and broader impacts review criteria.